It's Just the Start
by LabGirl2001
Summary: Tattoo Soulmate AU where people are born with soulmate tattoos that dictate who their romantic, platonic, and enemy soulmate are. Most people have at most three, but Marinette and Adrien are a little different.


From a young age, Marinette Dupain-Cheng has been well aware of the meaning of soulmate tattoos. Soulmate tattoos don't just mean romantic soulmates. The tattoos are the names of important people in a person's life, like best friends, romantic partners, or even a person's worst enemy.

The number of these tattoos always differs from person to person. Some people get one tattoo, meaning their romantic soulmate is also their platonic one. Most people tend to get two tattoos—usually one for their romantic/platonic soulmate and one for their soul enemy. Others get three. One soulmate for each of the main types, plus one soul enemy. However, Marinette was an odd case; she had four soulmate tattoos.

_Adrien, Alya, Lila, Luka_

Adrien's and Luka's names are on her right wrist, while Alya's and Lila's are on her right ankle. Ever since she was able to understand the meanings behind the tattoos on her wrist, Marinette has been searching for an answer to why she has four names. Marinette visited many tattoo experts to try and figure out the meaning behind her four tattoos. Everyone had a different answer. Some people said she had another soul she was connected to. Others said that she didn't truly have a soulmate and the names were people she could potentially be soulmates with.

For years, Marinette used long sleeves and makeup to hide her tattoos for fear of being made fun of because she wasn't normal. Especially around Chloe Bourgeois. That girl would torment Marinette if she knew there was something remotely different about her. So Marinette hid her names and never spoke of it until she saw an interesting post online.

The post was made by a user named Chat Noir and read: _Anyone have four soulmate tattoos? I'm just a curious kitty :)_.

Under the post, there were a lot of people who commented that four soulmate tattoos weren't possible. Someone even joked that "curiosity killed the cat." The specificness of the post sparked something in Marinette, which caused her to click on Chat Noir's profile. With her cursor over the private message, Marinette debated responding to his original post.

_Well, it's not like he could ever find out that I'm the person behind Ladybug's account._ With that thought, Marinette clicked on the button and typed out a quick message to Chat.

LB: _Do you have four soulmate tattoos?_

After about five minutes with no response, Marinette chose to work on her sketch for a dress she was working on. When she finished up her design, she went down to eat dinner with her parents. By the time she got back to the computer, Marinette had forgotten all about the message she had sent earlier in the day. Thus Marinette was surprised to see a little red notification telling her she had a message.

CN: _Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. It all depends on who's asking._

Frustrated by the vague answer, Marinette went to the user's profile to block him, but before she could, another message popped up.

CN: _I'm not all too comfortable sharing these purr-ivate secrets with a stranger._

LB: _You're the one who decided to post an oddly specific question on a PUBLIC website._

CN: _Fair point. So let's assume I have four soulmate tattoos. Is it okay for me to assume that you have four tattoos?_

Marinette paused, considering how she should answer the question. On one hand, Chat Noir could have two and just be trying to out some weirdo. On the other hand, he could just genuinely be curious.

LB: _Well if I'm assuming that you have four soulmate tattoos, I guess it's only fair you can assume that I have four. _

CN: _Well my lady, it seems we have reached a good understanding of where the other stands. May I ask what do you think it would mean if a person does have four soulmate tattoos?_

LB: _I guess I would think that they might have two best friend soulmates and one of the other._

CN: _Interesting theory Miss Bug. Got any more?_

Marinette was surprised by how quickly he responded given that the last response took a couple of hours to come through. However, what Marinette found more surprising was the fact that she wanted to just keep talking with this stranger on the computer. And that's exactly what she did late into the night until both of them had to go to sleep.

* * *

Marinette found that she and Chat Noir got along very well despite not really knowing who the other was. For the rest of her summer break, Marinette found herself messaging Chat Noir and getting to know him behind the screen. Though Marinette did make sure that they did not share anything too personal so that Chat could never figure out it was Marinette who had four tattoos.

Throughout their chats, Marinette learned that Chat was the same age as her (or so he claimed), he was a piano genius, and he had the cutest black cat named Plagg.

After about a month, the time came for school to start for Marinette, which in turn meant less time for her and Chat to talk online. Since she didn't want to leave Chat in the dark, Marinette decided to let him know about the upcoming shift in her schedule.

LB: _Hey Chat, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be starting school soon, which means that I won't be on all the time._

CN: _Thanks for letting me know Bugaboo :)! If you don't mind me asking, what is public school like?_

The question surprised Marinette mostly because she had assumed that Chat Noir had attended public school.

LB: _Uhh. It's alright. The teachers are fairly nice and try to help with what they can, and the other students are pretty cool. I'm good friends with most of them._

CN: _That sounds cool. I wish my father would let me go._

LB: _Why won't he let you go?_

CN: _He thinks the world is too dangerous and he keeps me in our house unless it's for a photoshoot or something. It sucks :(. _

LB: _That's dumb reasoning. He can't protect you from the world forever._

CN: _Well he's sure gonna try._

LB: _You should sneak out to go to school_

Marinette half meant it as a joke, definitely not expecting the next slew of messages from Chat Noir.

CN: _I totally should._

CN: _So I just messaged one of my friends. She goes to Francois Dupont and they start tomorrow as well. _

CN: _She said she can get me enrolled without my father filling out all the forms._

CN: _Wanna help me figure a plan of escape?_

Not being able to say no, Marinette ended up spending the next three hours helping Chat plan a way to escape a home where there was a bodyguard and a personal assistant that could ruin the entire plan. Since too many specifics couldn't be shared without risking Chat's identity, Marinette was very lost during most of the planning, which distracted her from the fact that the user Chat Noir was going to try and show up at her school the next day.

* * *

Despite setting her alarm super early, Marinette still manages to be running late for the first day of classes. After quickly throwing on her clothes, she runs downstairs to their kitchen, where her mother was cleaning the things from her breakfast.

"Good morning, Maman," Marinette greets, giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning, Marinette," Sabine Cheng responds, watching with amusement as Marinette grabbed a banana and her school bag and rushed out the door.

When Marinette gets down to the bakery, she gives her dad a kiss on his cheek and grabbed the box of macarons he made for her class.

"Have a good first day of lycée!" Tom Dupain yells to his daughter as she runs out of the bakery. Marinette quickly rounds the corner, preparing to dash across the street, only to have to stop abruptly because the light is red. The sudden stop causes Marinette to lose her grip on the macaron box and drop it on the sidewalk.

"Oh no!" Marinette exclaims, leaning down and picking up the remains of the macaron box and its contents. "Why am I so clumsy?" By the time Marinette gets back up, the light is green and people start walking across. Marinette sighs and starts running towards the school.

Thankfully, when Marinette enters the classroom, Mme. Bustier is still moving students around. "Nino, why don't you come sit in the front this year?" Mme. Bustier says, prompting the boy in the back to move to the desk at the front of the classroom.

As Nino is moving, Marinette quickly takes her usual seat in the second row, breathing a sigh of relief now that she is in class.

Unfortunately, she can't relax for too long, as a perfectly manicured hand slams down on the desk. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloe says, grabbing Marinette's attention.

"Here we go again," Marinette mumbles underneath her breath.

"That's my seat," Chloe states as if it were common knowledge.

"But Chloe, this has always been my seat," Marinette responds, hoping Chloe will leave her alone.

"Not anymore." Marinette is startled when Sabrina, Chloe's lackey, speaks from the seat next to her. "New school year, new seats."

"So go and sit beside that new girl over there," Chloe demands, pointing towards a dark-haired girl with dark red highlights. Marinette starts to protest, but Chloe cuts her off. "Adrien is coming today and since that's his seat"—Chloe points to the spot in front of Marinette—"this is going to be my seat. Get it?"

"Who's Adrien?" Marinette asks. She tries to keep her hopes down because despite the fact that one of her soulmates is named Adrien, it doesn't mean this Adrien is the same person.

In response to Marinette's question, Chloe and Sabrina laugh. "I can't believe you don't know who Adrien is. He's only a famous model and my best friend. He adores me," Chloe brags. "So go on and move."

Marinette starts to move only for the new girl to stop her.

"Hey, who elected you the queen of seats?" the girl asks Chloe.

"Oh, look, Sabrina, we've got a little do-gooder this year," Chloe mocks the girl. "What are you gonna do, shoot laser beams at me with your glasses?"

Instead of backing down like other people would have, the new girl says, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Chloe takes a step back with surprise etched on her face, allowing the dark-haired girl to grab Marinette's arm and drag her to the desk at the front of the classroom. Unfortunately, the sudden, unexpected movement causes Marinette to spill the remaining macarons on the floor.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Marinette says, picking up the box and quickly taking her seat.

"Alright, does everyone have a seat?" Mme. Bustier asks, looking up from some papers on her desk.

Marinette stares down at the box with the lone macaron with a frown on her face.

"Chillax, girl," says the new girl. "It's no biggie."

"I so wish I could handle Chloe like you do, " Marinette says as a way of thanking her.

"You mean like the way Majestia does it. She says, 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that the good people do nothing.'" The girl turns and points towards Chloe. "That girl over there is evil, and we're the good people. We can't let her get away with it."

"Well, that's easier said than done. She likes to make my life miserable. It's a wonder she isn't my enemy soulmate," Marinette says dejectedly.

"That's because you let her, girl. You need more confidence."

Smiling, Marinette grabs the sole surviving macaron and splits it in half.

"Marinette," she says, holding out the macaron half.

"Alya."

The two girls share a moment of understanding as they both realize what the other's name could mean for them both. Before they can address it, Mme. Bustier starts class.

* * *

"Adrien, where do you think you're going?"

Adrien cringes as he turns to see Nathalie on top of the steps in the foyer. He quickly tries to think up a reason as to why he is attempting to sneak out the front door with a school bag.

"Uhh...I was going to go visit Chloe," Adrien half lies while turning around and putting on a fake smile.

"Mlle. Bourgeois is currently at school, Adrien. I know you remember that your father does not want you attending public school," Nathalie reminds Adrien. She walks down the stairs and meets Adrien near the door. "Please go upstairs and practice your piano. I will finish preparing our lessons for today."

With that, Adrien heads upstairs towards his room. Once Adrien enters his room, he brings his piano up from underneath the floor and plays pre-recorded music from his iPod. After setting everything up, Adrien lies down on his bed. Plagg, Adrien's cat, comes up and sits right next to him.

Adrien pulls out his phone, opening one of his favorite messaging threads.

CN: _Plan A failed :(. I guess I'm glad you had me make a plan B._

LB: _Well you can never be too prepared. _

Smiling to himself, Adrien sends a quick message to one of his other close friends.

* * *

"Adrien, it would seem Mlle. Tsurugi would like to spend the afternoon with you. I have cleared your schedule, but please make sure you are back by 5 for your Chinese tutoring lesson." By the time Nathalie is finished, Adrien is practically out the door into Kagami Tsurugi's cherry-red car.

"Thank you so much for doing this, Kagami!" Adrien thanks, practically squeezing Kagami to death as soon as he's in the vehicle. Once Adrien lets go, he turns to put his seat belt on so the car can start moving.

"It was no problem at all, Adrien. You are my best friend, and this seemed to be something you really wanted," Kagami replies, unfazed by Adrien's excitement.

"To make this up to you, I'm going to introduce you to Chloe the first chance I get," Adrien decides.

This prompts Kagami to sigh. "Adrien, while I appreciate your efforts, who is to say that Mlle. Bourgeois is the same Chloe that is on my wrist? Not everyone is as lucky as you to have unique names for their soulmate tattoos."

"Hey, Gabriel isn't a unique name!" Adrien protests. "That's my dad's name, and I wouldn't say there's any strong connection there."

"True, but Marinette, Nino, and my name are unique."

Adrien goes to argue, but the car stops, announcing their arrival at Francois Dupont.

"I will see you at 3, Adrien," Kagami says. "Try not to be late."

* * *

Once it is time for their lunch break, Marinette takes Alya to the park across the street from the school. Marinette leads Alya towards a bench in a secluded area of the park so they could talk with relative privacy.

Once the two girls get settled, it's Alya who breaks the silence first. "Okay, so we're soulmates in some way. And I would like to assume that we're meant to be best friends because you seem really chill, but you're not exactly my type romantically."

Marinette releases a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well, that makes two of us."

"Okay, so if you don't mind me asking, what other names do you have?" Alya asks, getting excited. "I always promised myself that whenever I found my best friend I was always going to help them if they hadn't found their soulmates. So may I see your names?"

Marinette hesitates. For all she knows, this girl is pretending to be her friend to lull her into a false sense of security and turn her soulmates against her. Before Marinette can get too lost in her inner ramblings, she looks into Alya's eager and curious face, noticing that there is not any sign of malice in the girl's features.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette takes off her dark jacket. "So, my tattoos are a little weird. I, umm...I have four of them." With that, Marinette shows Alya the two tattoos on her wrist and lifts her right leg so she can show her the other two names on her ankle.

For a bit, Alya doesn't say anything. Then she suddenly shouts, "NO WAY!" Marinette immediately jumps up and covers the girl's mouth, silently praying that no one will come over.

"Please don't yell. I don't want a lot of people to know this specific information," Marinette pleads, with her hands still covering Alya's mouth. Slowly, Marinette removes her hands and sits back down.

"Okay, so my new best friend just told me the best thing I've ever heard. Girl, I didn't even know it was possible to have more than three tattoos. That's amazing!" Alya exclaims.

"Really?"

Alya nods her head furiously.

"Wow, I guess I never really saw this as a good thing."

"It totally is, girl. Now, who are the lucky people? Besides myself, of course," Alya questions, barely containing her excitement.

"Luka, Adrien, and Lila."

"Interesting names. Have you met any of them?"

"Only Luka. He's Juleka's brother. He's very sweet, but I'm not really into him like that."

"So I'm on the lookout for an Adrien and a Lila. Good to know." Alya pretends to write the names on her hand, causing Marinette to giggle.

"Hey, do you have any other soulmates?" Marinette questions.

"Just one other. I'm boring like everyone else."

Marinette giggles.

"Their name is Nino and hopefully he or she is nice and not a jerk."

"You know, there's a Nino in our class. I should totally introduce you guys. Maybe you'll hit it off!" Marinette teases.

* * *

"Hey, Chloe," Adrien greets as he walks up to her in the school's courtyard.

"Adrikins! You came!" Chloe runs and jumps into his arms as other students in the courtyard start to recognize who he is and crowd around him.

Thankfully, Chloe manages to shoo most of them away as she leads him upstairs towards the classroom. Still, Adrien does sign a few autographs for some students.

Once they get to the classroom, Chloe shows him to a seat in the front row. "This is your seat, Adrikins. I saved it for you, right in front of me." As Adrien walks in, he notices his deskmate, a boy in a blue shirt with a red cap, sitting in the seat next to the one Chloe saved for him.

"Thanks, Chloe." Adrien walks up and takes the seat in the front. He stretches out his hand toward his deskmate. "Uhh…hey….Adrien."

The boy seems to react to Adrien's name, but instead of responding with his name, he says, "So you're friends with Chloe then, huh?"

Adrien looks over in the direction of where the boy was looking and sees Chloe taking out the gum that was in her mouth and giving it to her red-headed friend. The girl then puts the piece of gum on the seat right across from Adrien.

"Hey, what's that all about?" Adrien questions the two girls with a disgusted look on his face.

"The brats that sat here this morning need a little attitude adjustment," Chloe states as if it makes perfect sense why she's doing what she's doing. "I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all."

"Do you think that's really necessary?" Adrien says, moving to try and remove the gum from the seat.

Chloe laughs, walking towards her desk behind Adrien. "You've got a lot to learn about school culture, Adrikins. Watch the master." Chloe leans back in her seat with a confident smirk on her face while the redhead comes up next to her, mimicking Chloe's pose.

Adrien continues to try to remove the gum until a feminine voice from behind him stops him. "Hey, what are you doing!?"

"Uhh...I…" Adrien attempts to explain himself, but he is at a loss for words as he takes in the beauty of the blue-haired girl behind him. Then, when Chloe and her friend start laughing from their seats, Adrien becomes even more flustered as he reaches for an explanation. An angry look of understanding flashes across her face.

"Okay, I get it. Good job, you three. Very funny," she congratulates sarcastically.

"No, no. I was trying to take it off," Adrien attempts to explain, not wanting to ruin his chance at making friends at school.

"Oh really?" the girl questions, getting in his face while Chloe and her friend continue to laugh. The blue-haired girl attempts to remove the gum herself but instead chooses to cover it with a tissue from her bag. "You're friends with Chloe, right?" she asks, turning back towards him.

"Why do people keep saying that?" Adrien mumbles under his breath. The girl gives him one last dirty look before sitting down in her seat, prompting Adrien to take his own seat.

"Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloe comments from behind him. Adrien sighs, looking down at his desk.

* * *

"I know I've seen him somewhere before," Marinette comments, staring at the blond boy sitting across from her. Alya gasps from beside her, showing Marinette what she found on her phone,

"Of course! Adrien Agreste," Marinette gasps. "He's the son of my fave designer, Gabriel Agreste!"

"Daddy's boy, teen supermodel, and Chloe's buddy? Ha! Forget it." Alya points to Adrien. "If that boy is your soulmate, it's probably not good news."

* * *

Adrien's deskmate stares at him for a good minute. "Why didn't you tell her it was Chloe's idea?" he questions.

"I've known Chloe since I was a kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's one of my only friends," Adrien explains.

"I'm Nino. It's time for you to make some new friends, dude." The boy smiles and offers out his hand. Recognizing the name, Adrien gasps before understanding the implications of this new friendship. Adrien takes the boy's hand and shakes it.

"Just some helpful advice. Marinette over there is a pretty chill dude. I'm sure if you just explain to her what happened, she'd be very understanding."

"Wait, did you say Marinette?" Adrien questions quickly, looking back over to the bluenette. Before Nino could reply, Mme. Bustier starts class by taking attendance, stalling the curiousness stirring in Adrien's mind.

* * *

Marinette walks out to the front of the school with her bags prepared to leave only to see it pouring outside. She considers making a run for it to the bakery, but after seeing how hard it's pouring decides to wait out the rain for a bit.

Hearing another student approaching from behind her, Marinette moves to the side of the entrance so she wouldn't block them. Unfortunately for her, it is Chloe's friend who just started.

"Hey," he greets. Marinette turns away, trying to ignore him so he would just go away and leave her alone. A red car pulls up to the front with a young girl in the backseat. The boy sighs and looks at his umbrella, then opens it and takes a step out in the rain. "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat. I swear."

Marinette gasps and turns towards the blond. "I've never been to school before. I've never had many friends outside of my father's associates' kids. Everything here is all sort of new to me." The boy turns around and offers Marinette his umbrella. Marinette stares into his eyes, searching for any sign of malice, and realizes that the boy in front of her is truly being genuine. She reaches out for the offered umbrella, hesitating a bit. Still staring in awe, Marinette doesn't realize she has pressed the close button on the umbrella until it closes on top of her head.

Not a second later, Marinette hears the sweetest and most innocent laugh she has ever heard in her life. She peels back part of the umbrella to see the teen supermodel smiling a genuine smile, causing her to laugh a bit as well.

"Well, Marinette, I hope we can become great friends. See you tomorrow!" Adrien waves good-bye, heading into the red car.

"Maybe we could be something more," Marinette whispers as his car drives away.

Marinette pauses to pull out her phone and opens her chat with Chat Noir.

LB: _I think I just met my romantic soulmate..._

CN: _I think I did too…_


End file.
